Eden's Root (42 page)

They set out to take the road for the first part of their journey. Jose and Mayra assured them that it would be a small rural route for quite a ways. Fi focused on the positives as they walked down the gravel roadway in the beautiful morning. They could go back to using roads now, she thought. That was going to make their quest much easier. Even Maggie could walk a couple miles at a time if it was all on road. Besides, Jose had assured her that they would have to use roadways when they got to the White Mountains. Fi worked her way back through the group to stroll beside Asher.

“Having any second thoughts?” It was an effort to keep her tone casual, her glance sliding sideways to gauge his expression. He smiled.

“Nope,” he shook his head. “Five minutes in, I can’t say that I have any second thoughts,” he teased and she smacked his arm.

“Don’t make me punch you,” she threatened and he pretended to look surprised.

“Oh, is that how you run your Family?” he asked, “Ok, I see how you are,” he raised his eyebrows and laughed as she turned purple.

“You see nothing,” she retorted, feigning offense as she marched further back to walk with Maggie and Kiara. Even though they were just beginning, the Family knew that someone always had to walk with Maggie to gauge how she was doing. You couldn’t count on Maggie to tell you herself if she needed a rest, Fi thought, sighing. Sometimes stoicism can be as difficult a form of stubbornness as petulance.

“What was that about?” Maggie asked Fi when she joined them. Her eyebrows were raised and she had a look on her face that resembled a smirk.

“What are you talking about mama?” Fi asked her, confused. Maggie smiled. She shook her head slowly and hummed to herself as they walked. “What?” Fi was mystified. “What?” she demanded, her voice rising as she grew annoyed. Maggie tilted her head toward her.

“Fi, really?” she asked, her voice doubtful. “You’re sure you don’t know what I’m talking about?” Fi shook her head and Maggie smiled, whistling through her teeth. “I forget sometimes how young you actually are,” she murmured. “Maybe you really don’t know.” Fi was frustrated. She hated to show frustration to Maggie, but she also hated being called young, and Maggie knew that. Noting Fi’s expression, Maggie laughed, the airy sound flying away on the morning breeze.

“Ok, sorry,” Maggie apologized. “I’ll just say this,” she began and Fi waited, wanting clarity. “I wouldn’t throw him out of the kitchen for eating crackers either.” The statement finished with a chuckle. What? Fi thought, even more annoyed. She followed Maggie’s gaze forward through the backs of the walking Family Members to the swaying blonde braid. Fi gasped and her head whipped around to glare at her mother. Maggie was trying to suppress her laughter, Fi saw, as she pinched her lips and her shoulders shook. Betrayed by her pale skin again, Fi felt her face flush and her heart race. Dammit, she hated having her embarrassment be so visible all the time. Kiara gazed up at Maggie while they walked, completely confused.

“What?” she asked them, not wanting to miss the news. “Why is Fi mad?” Maggie chuckled and sighed.

“Fi isn’t mad sweetie,” she told Kiara. “She’s embarrassed.” Fi sighed. Maggie’s explanation was embarrassing. Kiara still looked confused.

“Why?” she persisted, turning to Fi. Maggie answered for her.

“Because she agrees with me.” Maggie’s tone was still teasing and Fi flushed all over again. She smiled at Maggie, chagrined, and then shrugged.

“He doesn’t think of me that way Mama.” Fi was sure of that. He had made it pretty clear that he thought of her as a little girl…a cool little girl maybe, but a little girl nonetheless. He was just as kind to Kiara, she thought wistfully. “It would make more sense for him to be with Lydia,” she said, feeling a sting of jealousy as she watched the delicate blonde mother walking beside Sarge.

“Hmm,” Maggie mused, her tone unconvinced. “Lydia is too old for him, I think,” Maggie said and Fi guffawed. Lydia was only twenty-six years old. “No, I mean it Fi,” Maggie insisted. “You two are closer in age, though he’s a little old for you.” Oh great, Fi thought, groaning at the sudden sternness in Maggie’s voice. It’s like Maggie already had them dating in her mind. Fi shook her head at her.

“Wasn’t that
my
point?” she retorted. Changing the subject, she asked Kiara. “What story would you like to create today?” Kiara perked up.

“Something about dragons,” she said, skipping while they walked. Having enough energy was not a problem for Kiara, even when the rest of the Family was tired.

“Ok,” Fi said, “Dragons it is then. Are the dragons good or bad?” she asked and Kiara giggled.

“Bad of course.”

Fi smiled at Asher’s back striding along in front of her. Not all dragons were bad, she thought. Zoe walked back to join them and Lucy nodded to Maggie who waved back. This was how the children were all team-supervised. Fi got ready to include Zoe’s input into the story. She should call Sean back to join them. He was really good at storytelling. It was a good start to their summer’s journey, she thought, contented.

Two weeks later, they had made progress and the entire group was in good spirits. They had left the roadway for a while, guided by Jose and Mayra’s careful scouting. Every time that the Family had to rest, the two of them would split up and scout ahead, determining the best path. They always weighed terrain versus taking the shortest possible route and made their decisions with Fi accordingly. That way the Family didn’t waste time dragging their weaker members over unsuitable terrain, or too far out of their way. Not much for daily prayer, Fi still found herself thanking God anyway for sending the siblings to guide them. There was no better term for them than ‘Godsend’.

Fi had taken to walking with Asher whenever she got a chance. He liked to play word games with her, and it kept them both entertained.

“Castigate!” Fi cried triumphantly to Asher’s back as they walked single-file around the perimeter of a muddy Dead Zone, keeping just inside the cool, dry, border of the forest.

“Hmmph,” he said, with a glance over his shoulder. “Tough one.”

“C’mon,” Fi laughed, “It’s not any harder than ‘excoriate’ for goodness’ sakes.” Asher grunted. They walked silently for a moment while he thought, the rest of the group chatting as well.

“How about this,” Asher started and Fi perked up. “The researchers castigated themselves for contributing to worldwide catastrophe,” he finished with a grin. Fi frowned at first, but then she had to break down and smile in return.

“Pretty good,” she admitted. “Now it’s your turn,” she prompted him to feed her the next word. Their silly invented game consisted of using a given difficult word in a sentence that related to the Famine in some way. Verbal games made a good way to pass the time when there was nothing to do all day but walk very slowly. Though she knew it wasn’t everyone’s idea of fun, it was definitely hers.

“Ok,” Asher said. “Supercilious.” As he spoke, he emphasized the “s” sounds like a snake. Fi rolled her eyes.

“That’s too easy.” For a moment, she was silent while she reflected.

“Thought it was easy,” Asher goaded her. Fi swatted at his back from behind.

“Give me a second,” she laughed. “It’s easy. I’m just picking the sentence.” She paused for another second. “Ok. The supercilious smile on President Winter’s face belied her true message.” Fi made certain to draw out ‘belied’. Asher howled.

“Belied?” he glared over his shoulder in disbelief. “‘Belied’ in the same sentence? You’re such a showoff,” he whined and Fi shrugged and made a small sound of pleasure at the recognition. It was her turn. Her mind pored over possible words.

“Obstreperous,” she crowed and Asher groaned.

“Hey guys,” Fi heard Lucy pipe up from the back of the line, and they all stopped. Lucy stood with Maggie’s arm around her shoulder, helping her to navigate. Fi could see that both were tired and Maggie’s legs were sagging. “I think we all could use a little rest, ok?” Lucy proposed. Maggie smiled weakly. She had stopped even saying ‘sorry’ for causing them to stop. Everyone agreed that the Family wasn’t the same without Maggie’s positive spirit, and they urged her to keep telling them when she needed rest. They settled into an area nearby with a small stand of boulders.

Taking her seat beside Maggie, Fi sat with her pack at her back and rested her head on it, the sunlight washing over her upturned face. Maggie needed support to walk now, and though Fi wished she could be the one to do it, she was just too short to help. Instead Lucy, Aliyah, Sean, and Asher had all been taken turns walking with her. That was why Fi tried to spend a lot of her rest time with Maggie, although Maggie was often so exhausted that she would drop off to sleep as soon as the group stopped.

Whenever Fi saw Asher helping her mother to walk, it made her heart feel like it would stop beating. His gentleness brought tears to her eyes. Fi would carry his sword for him because he could not wear it while he was supporting Maggie. The first time that Asher handed his sword over to Fi without question Sean had been startled, though Fi hadn’t noticed. If she had turned around, she would have seen the shocked look on Sean’s face. She would have noticed his amazement that Asher would just turn over his most prized possession to her without hesitation. But she didn’t notice, because all of her attention was on Asher. She wished that she could carry his sword on her back like he did, but it was just too long. It banged into her legs as she walked. Instead she carried cradled in her arms.

Asher supported Maggie with one hand around her waist and the other at her left elbow, like he was leading her onto the dance floor. He said it was more ‘polite looking’ than having her arm slung over his shoulder. The truth was that he was too tall for Maggie’s arm to go over his shoulder anyway, but no matter the reason, Maggie loved it. Walking together, they would talk and he would make Maggie laugh. Fi often overheard him asking Maggie for stories about Fi and Kiara, whom he had started calling ‘Ki’. Of course, Fi protested whenever she heard Maggie telling baby stories.

“That’s not fair,” she’d complain, her eyes begging Maggie not to embarrass her.

One day she’d overheard Asher asking Maggie, “So what is ‘Fi’ short for anyway?” Like a fire suddenly given oxygen, Fi felt a forgotten anger roar to life. That was her special thing to share with her father, she fumed. Why did Asher have to be so nosy? If Sean couldn’t call her by her full name, then no one could.

“No,” she’d declared, walking toward the pair and shaking her head. “There’s no reason for you to know that.” Her eyes cut through Asher as she spoke. “My name is
just
Fi.” She’d spun and stalked to the front of the line to talk to Jose and Mayra. Asher had been confused.

“Did I say something wrong?” he’d asked Maggie with concern. Maggie just shook her head.

“Just memories Asher,” she’d assured him, shaking her head. “It’s not you. Just give her time.” Maggie explained, “…I mean give her time to trust. She’s a girl who’s been very badly hurt.”

From that day forward Asher had stopped pushing her for her name, but it still irked Fi. It wasn’t like she knew everything about him or had his mother and father to ask, she thought and then bit her tongue. No, she thought sadly. His mother and father weren’t here. She leaned back against her pack again and sighed. Maggie looked at Fi with sleepy eyes.

“Are you comfortable Mama?” Fi asked, adjusting the soft fur vest beneath her mother’s head. Maggie nodded and her eyes closed. As usual, Jose and Mayra took the opportunity to do more scouting. Their conversations had taken on a steady rhythm.

“What about this way?” Mayra asked, pointing and squinting her eyes. “What about a ten minute scout in this direction to truth it?” Jose nodded.

“Yes, take Fi and go this way, while I take Sean around here,” he said, drawing a line on the map with his finger. “Meet back and decide.” Mayra nodded and got up, beckoning to Fi, who peeked at Maggie. She was fast asleep. Fi followed Mayra, trailing behind. Mayra’s footfalls were completely silent. Fi had been practicing her silent walk with Mayra’s guidance. She was always amazed watching Mayra’s comfort with the forest.

“Why don’t you tell me more about your father while we walk?” Fi suggested and Mayra smiled. Fi knew that Jose didn’t like to talk about their father, but Mayra did. Fi understood. Mayra was Daddy’s Little Girl too.

“Well,” Mayra said, stopping to make mental notes of their surroundings. “His name was Luis, and he was born in the mountains outside Oaxaca in southern Mexico.” They turned to the left a bit and started walking again. Fi noticed that Mayra had turned back west toward the highway, using the road as a guide. It provided a nearly pure north-south route marker. The terrain was going to get tougher now that they were getting close to the mountains, Fi knew. Soon it would become necessary to use the road as their only path, for better or worse. Mayra continued as they passed through the forest.

“A lot of what we Americans call ‘survival skills’ many rural Mexicans still think of as regular life. My father didn’t originally consider himself a ‘survivalist’. Where he lived, you went on long trips and camped out in the wilderness because you had to hunt and gather things to live. That was normal. But his history made him a natural at navigation, at camping, and at getting food and water out of what seemed like nothing.” Mayra shook her head and Fi could sense the pride in her voice.

“When he came to the U.S., he was about my age,” Mayra’s voice softened. Fi could see her thinking about that, about the passage of time. “He said he always loved that there was life and buzz and energy here, and opportunity of course, but he liked to get out into the woods and wilderness too. It reminded him of home and made him happy.” Mayra chuckled, “Of course he also liked to go out in the winter and drag us out there with him. I never wanted to go out in winter, but he was insistent.” She sighed. “Guess that was a good thing. I used to call him crazy man,” she laughed, holding back a heavy branch for Fi to pass through behind her.

“There was nothing he liked better than catching a big fish and cooking it over an open fire with all the fresh foods he had gathered on his own. My Papa,” she emphasized, “was a genius with wild edibles. Nothing like our sad attempts,” she shaded her eyes as they stepped out into a clearing. She nodded. “This will do.”